Station Documentation

Data Authority

Arctic and Antarctic Research InstituteRussian Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring36 Bering Street199397 St. PetersburgRUSSIAN FEDERATION

=========================== FOLLOWING PSMSL DOCUMENTATION ADDED 2003Jan23 :Instrumental measurements of the sea level in the Russian ArcticSeas began in the 1920s. Stationary observations began in theKara Sea (Dickson Island) in 1933, in the Laptev Sea (Tiksi Bay)in 1934, in the Chukchi Sea (Cape Schmidt) in 1935, and in the East-Siberian Sea (Ambarchik Bay) in 1939. There were 53 stations withsea level observational program in the mid 1980s.As a results of economical problems in Russia, many stations were closed in th1990s, and at present, there are 7,7,5 and 2 stations in the Kara, Laptev,East-Siberian and Chukchi Seas, respectively.=========================== FOLLOWING PSMSL DOCUMENTATION ADDED 2003Jan23 :Observations have been conducted according to the Manual for Stationsand Gauges of the Hydrometeorological Service (1968).The observations with manual reading have been carried out four timesa day with an accuracy of 1 cm. Tide gauge stations have 1-hourfrequency of observations, and the same accuracy. Monthly dataquality control includes visual data control and statistical controlby the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) scientistsand administration of RosHydromet.Observations at some stations have had different locations in summerand winter, some of which were interrapted during replacement.=========================== FOLLOWING PSMSL DOCUMENTATION ADDED 2003Jan23 :Therefor a lot of sea level data before 1949-50 in many casescannot be used because of absence of relible geodetic survey.All stations have one or more geodetic benchmarks installedon stable ground. Periodic (usually annual but for some stationsevery summer month) geodetic surveys are made to a gauge todetermine if any vertical changes in the gauge mount haveoccurred. The Russian sea level network has a complete geodetichistory consisting of Revised Local Reference (RLR) sites.Only 30-40 years ago, the sea level station benchmarks were relatedto the Baltic System (Kronshtadt gauge) using geodetic methods.=========================== FOLLOWING PSMSL DOCUMENTATION ADDED 2003Jan23 :The monthly sea level data are calculated using daily data. The meanmonthly sea level data based on four measurements per day are veryclose to the observations with 1-hour interval. It is estimated thatthe error does not exceed 2 cm with probability of 99.7%. The annualsea level based on 4-hour interval observations coincide with resultsbased on 1- hour observing intervals.